Life After Political Talk Radio?

[fred flintstone]

Even with a hot election, audience numbers for political are sagging. What's the next big thing in talk radio?

"Mantalk 640" Launches In South Florida

JAMES CRYSTAL RADIO makes official what ALL ACCESS was the first to report and flips Adult Standards WJNA-A/WEST PALM BEACH to Talk and Sports as "WMEN, MANTALK 640."

The lineup includes an all-syndicated lineup of MANCOW (doubled up to run 6a-Noon), JIM ROME, DON AND MIKE, TOM LEYKIS, RUSTY HUMPHRIES, and TAMMY BRUCE.

Sounds like a hodge-podge. Sports talk, hot talk and 3rd rate right-wing political talk.

FM Talk For Cincy?
Those rumors about CUMULUS Country simulcast WYGY-WPRV (96.5 THE STAR)/CINCINNATI aren't going away.

ALL ACCESS is hearing that the split of the simulcast, with WYGY and the Country format moving to 94.9 (the former WMOJ (MOJO 94.9)) and the 96.5 frequency going with Talk, could happen around NOVEMBER 1, with TALK RADIO NETWORK's MANCOW in the lineup along with WESTWOOD ONE's BILL O'REILLY and possibly DAVE RAMSEY and sister WWTN (SUPER TALK 99.7 WTN)/NASHVILLE's PHIL VALENTINE. Asked about the chatter, CUMULUS EVP/Programming JOHN DICKEY told ALL ACCESS "No comment at this time."

Music on FM is dead. Long live XM and Sirius.
Talking on AM is dying. Long live FM talk.

 

[Slant]

there will always be an audience for conservative talk radio on the AM dial. If the left regains the house and senate, look for improved share at all the big talk stations around the country. Political talk radio is not going anywhere. Its silly to think otherwise. Don't confuse boring talk radio with political talk radio. If a host is not entertaining, THEY WILL FAIL NO MATTER WHAT SUBJECT MATTER. But the vast conservative community will always look for entertaining, conservative talk radio.

 

[smedge2006]

But is the community that first turned on to talk radio aging out of saleability? Remember the baby boomers were drawn back to AM by Rush. There's no evidence that today's twenty and thirtysomethings -- even conservatives in that age group -- are making the same pilgrimage.

There may always be an audience for political talk in our lifetimes, but it may not always be a profitable one.

As for James Crystal's format flip, it seems to me to be a lot of flailing. Other than conservative talk, liberal talk and sports, it's hard to construct a 24/7 format with the available syndicated product, thus you get a hodgepodge. Those culties at TRN have one hell of an aggressive affiliate relations section, from what I've been told, and they're really pushing Doyle and Mancow.

Be careful about the "next big thing" theory. In 1996, when conservative talk radio was about at the same point in the cycle, the next big thing was Dr. Laura, which ended up taking more hours away from local talk shows and took the format away from its focus, not to be corrected until 9-11, or more precisely, 9-12.

 

[Radio_Realist]

"But is the community that first turned on to talk radio aging out of saleability? Remember the baby boomers were drawn back to AM by Rush. There's no evidence that today's twenty and thirtysomethings -- even conservatives in that age group -- are making the same pilgrimage."

First, everyone needs to forget about whether talk radio is on AM or FM. Broadcasters may worry about such trivia, listeners do not. Listeners tune in what they want to hear. They'll either tune in programming they already like, or they'll sample new programming if that new programming is adequately advertised and promoted.

For news talk to thrive as it did when Rush was new by gaining a new audience, there needs to be a new Rush come along. That may or may not happen. But if a new Rush comes along and captures the imagination of today's 20 and 30 somethings, then those people will tune in.

I'll grant you that if it's not on FM, they won't stumble across the new program by accident. But, given that most radio listening takes place in automobiles, and most listeners have their favorite stations programmed into pre-set buttons, the days of having your station stumbled across as someone twists the rotary tuning knob through all the stations while changing stations are over.

But that doesn't mean that some new political talk show host can't capture the public's interest the way Rush did won't happen. It does mean that it will take someone who is entertaining and who is backed by a company that's willing and able to advertise and market that new host. Younger listeners will tune in to an AM station to hear a sporting event, or to listen to sports talk shows. They won't tune in to music programming on AM, but that's only because there isn't any music programming on AM that appeals to younger listeners.

Frankly, anyone who listens to third rate MP3's from Myspace isn't going to reject AM radio because of audio quality. But they will reject it if they don't like the songs.